The present invention relates generally to a golfing structure, and more particularly concerns such a structure which is divided into relatively narrow portions which in turn include conventional or simulated putting green surface regions, hazard surface regions and fairway surface regions, so that each portion presents a particular approach shot to the player.
Conventional golf is a very popular sport in the United States and is played by virtually all age groups, and by both men and women. The popularity of golf has increased over the past several decades, and is expected to increase further in the immediate future. The number of people who now play golf, however, are placing a significant strain on the available golf facilities, particularly the full-size public courses. Players often encounter long delays, and maintenance problems are increasing, due to the increased use of the courses.
When golf began to increase in popularity several decades back, land was relatively inexpensive and readily available, so that a full-size golf course could be built at a relatively reasonable cost. Over a relatively long period, the number of conventional golf facilities steadily increased. However, in recent times, the building of conventional golf courses has declined, due to rising costs, until today, relatively few full-size courses are being built, particularly in or near metropolitan areas, as the land required is either no longer available in those areas, or is too expensive to use for a golf course.
Under conditions of increasing playing demand, without a corresponding increase in the number of courses, the pressure on existing courses will increase still further, resulting in ever longer playing delays and more difficult maintenance problems.
In addition to the full-size golf courses, there exist scaled-down, or short, courses, usually par 3 or executive courses, which have become increasingly popular, particularly because of the shorter period of time required to play the course. So-called miniature golf courses, which are essentially amusement games in which the player uses only a putter, are also popular, although they bear little resemblance to the conventional game of golf.
The par 3 and executive courses, while bearing some resemblance to full size, conventional golf courses, and having the advantage of requiring significantly less land area than conventional courses, are usually either too simple and/or too repetitive to present a real challenge to the avid golfer, i.e. they do not present normal playing situations encountered by a golfer on a full-size conventional course. Hence, such courses are not patronized to the same extent as are full-size courses.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a golf structure which overcomes one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art noted above.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a golf structure which presents to a player situations similar to that found on a conventional course.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide such a golf structure which avoids the repetitive nature of scaled-down golf courses.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a golf structure which requires significantly less playing area than a conventional golf course, while permitting the player to use coventional golf clubs and strokes other than the putter and putting strokes.